Serena Williams ousts Madison Keys will face Maria Sharapova for Aussie ...

Serena Williams will be gunning for her 19th major championship after stopping the run of fellow American Madison Keys in the Australian Open semifinals. (Andy Brownbill/Associated Press)

Madison Keys at age 19 had been hoping to make her biggest headline yet at the Australian Open. Instead it is Serena Williams who will be going for her 19th Grand Slam singles title.

Williams ended the unexpected Melbourne run of her fellow American taking their semifinal match 7 6 (7 5) 6 2. In the other semifinal Maria Sharapova had no trouble with fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6 3 6 2.

Keys had already gone further than she ever had before in a major tournament when when she toppled Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. But beating both Williams sisters in one tournament is a very rare event rarer still at a Grand Slam where it had only happened three times before and not at all since 2009.

The unseeded American gave Serena Williams all she could handle in the first set but the tournament s top seed was steadier in the tiebreak and then wore down her younger opponent in the second set. Keys displayed her baseline power and strong serve but Williams again showed that it s nearly impossible to beat her at that particular game. Here is the match s final point

Now the Australian Open gets the most glamorous championship match it could hope for. Williams and Sharapova rank 1 2 in the WTA s singles rankings and they have combined for 23 Grand Slam titles.

Williams has accounted for 18 of those titles against just 4 losses in finals which currently has her tied with Martina Navratilova (18 14) and Chris Evert (18 16) at fourth all time. Beating Sharapova would place Williams alongside Helen Wills Moody (19 3) and behind only Margaret Smith Court (24 5) and Steffi Graf (22 9).

A win in Saturday s final would also give Williams her sixth Australian Open title and two Grand Slams in a row following her victory at the U.S. Open last September. Including her 7 0 record at that tournament Williams is currently on a 13 0 roll in Grand Slam events.

Sharapova will be seeking her second win in Melbourne having taken the Australian Open in 2008. She hasn t beaten Williams since 2004 having lost their past 15 encounters.

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